


A Rose So Shy

by StellarLibraryLady



Series: Sweet Innocence [2]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bickering, Confused McCoy, Curious Spock, Dancing, Developing Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Kirk And Sulu Playing Cupid, Leap Day, Leap Year, M/M, Male Friendship, Merry Mix-Ups, Mix-Ups, Pining Pavel Chekov, Sadie Hawkins Dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23054299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellarLibraryLady/pseuds/StellarLibraryLady
Summary: What if Chekov hadn't worked up the courage to ask Spock to dance with him at the Sadie Hawkins Dance?
Relationships: James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, Pavel Chekov/Spock
Series: Sweet Innocence [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649950
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	A Rose So Shy

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a comment to "Got A Date With A Daydream."

But what would have happened if Pavel Chekov hadn’t worked up the courage to ask Mr. Spock to dance with him at the Sadie Hawkins Dance? Well, not a whole lot of anything, except for frustration from Chekov and Sulu about Chekov's indecisiveness. And that’s not to mention the feeling of anticlimax that settled over Kirk, Spock, and McCoy as the lively rock music played on and nothing happened.

But all was not seemingly lost. For Spock was intrigued. And curious. And as any Jane Austen fan can attest, there is nothing more flattering than someone's pining worship from afar. It is worthy of heartfelt sighs and languid, doleful glances from obviously suffering eyes. And Pavel Chekov was full of those symptoms. Even from across a crowded day room brimming with happy dancers, it was obvious that Chekov had an overwhelming problem that was giving him a hangdog expression. He was suffering from either dyspepsia or unrequited love or underwear that was too tight.

It amused Spock that he could be the cause of such reactions in someone. He was not so heartless, though, that he would openly jeer that person for creating a relationship that existed only in that person's mind. For Spock realized that the one-sided relationship existed also in that person's heart. And Spock would never knowingly injure someone's heart. For Spock knew what it was to long for love and not receive it, be it from siblings or parents or contemporaries.

Besides, Spock liked Pavel Chekov and admired his many talents and accomplishments, especially for one so young. He and Chekov were crewmates and, Spock hoped, friends. As for anything more-- Well, time would only tell about that.

But nothing would have any hope of advancing unless young Chekov worked up his courage to approach Spock. And Spock realized that it had to be that way, because otherwise Chekov wouldn't feel good about himself. It was just another instance of having to be mindful of someone's feeling and emotions.

Oh, emotions! Such a minefield! How they did tangle humans in unbreakable webs! And how they puzzled Vulcans!

And that wasn't the worst part of the ridiculous scenario that was playing out around him. Not around him, Spock realized. Because that would indicate that he was a bystander watching this charade. No, he was in the middle of it. Not only was he the apparent object of young Chekov's secret pining, but Spock was also the center of his friends' attention. Once again, he would rather be observing, but they were there to support him. That's what friends do. Especially these friends. When Kirk and McCoy took the notion, they stuck with Spock as if they were attached at the hip. Spock never had to ask about the meaning of that idiom, because Kirk and McCoy were always around to illustrate it for him. He couldn't have shaken them if he'd tried.

Spock didn't mind Kirk's presence, because Kirk would back him, no matter what. And McCoy would, too, but it was McCoy's mocking that Spock would rather not endure. Especially since Spock was required to present McCoy with a placid face as if McCoy wasn't irritating him. Because tonight, McCoy was in rare form. He sensed Spock's ambivalence and was going for the jugular with each pointed barb.

“Well, where’s this secret admirer who’s supposed to be showing up to whisk you away for an evening of unguarded bliss?” McCoy finally asked with a knowing look on his face. "Faint-hearted or got some sense at the last moment?" He shook his head with fake sympathy. "That person's loss. And all it would have taken would've been one little dance so that you could've presented all of your charms and winning personality. Then all of the gifts of the angels would've been heaped on that lucky soul! Ah! Opportunities lost! And all because of one little dance that never happened!"

“I hardly believe that one innocent dance could be that rewarding, Doctor,” Spock replied with the driest voice he could muster, which was quite an achievement because he was beginning to wonder if Kirk had told him the truth about Chekov’s interest in him. If McCoy would’ve been the informant, Spock might’ve suspected a ruse to make him the butt of a joke. But Kirk would never do anything like that. 

No, he just had to be patient, Spock decided. He was observing Chekov across the room and Sulu seemed to be talking intently to him. Chekov looked uncertain and Sulu looked determined. Spock would love to be a little mouse with the power to be able to overhear that conversation. 

Spock’s curiosity was stirred, not only by the drama between Chekov and Sulu, but also by the young man who was looming suddenly in his consciousness. Ordinarily, Chekov was the talented young man who was the navigator and sat beside Sulu who was generally the pilot on their shift. Chekov was brilliant with a sterling record at Starfleet and had come well recommended from his prior strict formal and regimented education. From all indications, Chekov seemed to have quite a cultural and traditional background, too. He might be someone who would appeal to Spock’s love for the Classics by having a similar appreciation for learning for learning’s sake. Kirk and McCoy were both highly intelligent with solid backgrounds in all forms of literacy, but Chekov could also probably provide an Old World charm and ambiance that Spock was now realizing he secretly craved. Spock was amazed to find himself harboring fanciful longings for the world of Czarist Russia and Europe before the First World War. Amazing, he thought as he mentally raised an eyebrow. He had not known that about himself. Ah, the romance of that era!

Unknown to Spock, his face got a wistful look as he thought about the romantic feel of Czarist Russia right before the Revolution. Add to that the desperate slide of Europe headed for a catastrophic war that was relentlessly amassing at the same moment, and it must have been a glorious time to be alive and experiencing it. But oh so bittersweet because the War would erase the innocence of those times forever. In the meanwhile, it was so pleasing to think of them and of what had once been.

But McCoy saw Spock's face and misinterpreted what was causing Spock's melancholy. “Oh, hell, Jim,” McCoy said softly with false sympathy ringing in his voice. “Spock is pining! His secret love isn’t showing up, and now he’s pining!”

Spock stirred himself and was amazed to find himself watching dancers with his friends. His mind had indeed wandered there! He had quite forgotten that he was at a dance.

“I appreciate your concern, Doctor,” Spock answered as if he did not realize that McCoy was teasing him.

“I know. It has to be so sad for you,” McCoy said with sugared sympathy. He saw Kirk roll his eyes up with an expression of intolerance. “Here you had your heart set on a gilded evening of discovering new romance, and now you are being disappointed. Ah, the foibles of a jilted heart!”

“You are a good man, Doctor McCoy,” Spock answered with seemingly heartfelt appreciation. “And a good friend. I do not know what I would do without your sturdy support in times like this.”

Give me a break! Kirk thought. That time Spock got to see Kirk's exaggerated eye roll. If this malarkey kept up, Kirk was going to make himself dizzy just from doing eye rolls about what his friends were saying. They were trying to top each other. Surely they couldn’t be meaning what they were saying!

Then McCoy topped even himself.

“Don’t give up hope, Mr. Spock,” McCoy said in soothing tones and an earnest look on his face. “Your knight in shining armor may show up even yet. Why, even at this moment, she, or he, may be lurking in the hallway, ready to ride into the day room on a trusty white stallion and sweep you away to an enchanted castle to fill your ears with sweet nothings and your heart with gleeful joy! Or joyful glee, whichever you prefer,” he quickly amended.

“I would prefer simply to dance,” Spock remarked dryly.

“You have no poetry in your soul!” McCoy snarled.

“I have a lot of poetry in my soul,” Spock objected. “But a horse might misstep on this slick floor and send both me and my secret admirer on a nasty spill. Then, too, unless the animal is diapered, he might commit a worse faux pas and answer a call of Nature’s which has been long bred into the creature as it has all of us.”

“Well, that would stir up a certain amount of excitement and would elevate this occasion into one long remembered,” McCoy decided as he considered Spock’s scenario for the possible indiscretion of a horse as the focal point of their evening instead of the prospects of living a romantic fantasy.

“Quite. It would be long remembered,” Spock agreed as he turned his attention once more to the dancers.

“Yes, sir,” McCoy commented as he raised himself on the balls of his feet and practically danced in place. “There’s all sorts of possibilities. Who knows what might yet happen!”

Spock did not even bother looking in his direction. “That is very true, Doctor. The evening is still young.”

McCoy, though, must have been at the end of his patience for something to happen, because he snapped, “Yeah, but we ain’t! And I’m beginning to feel my age!”

Spock and Kirk both glanced at him as if McCoy was finally going to admit to being older than the rest of them.

“I mean, there’s nothing like a dull evening to age any man who needs a little more than this to be entertained. I was expecting something unique and thrilling to astound me.”

“I had not realized that our primary purpose was to be entertaining you, Doctor,” Kirk remarked in a pointedly flirty manner. That look had melted lesser hearts than McCoy’s and had been the downfall of many a regretful young lady.

“Well, of course, it ain’t!” McCoy snapped. He might’ve expected acid remarks like these from Spock, but not from Kirk. He motioned toward the dancers. “Why, I’ve got all these fine folks showing me how they can kick up their heels.”

Meanwhile, Hikaru Sulu was trying to buck up Pavel Chekov. He’d already plied him with false courage from a couple of drinks. Surprisingly, the strong alcohol hadn’t sent Chekov to the floor. Apparently, he was too nervous to be affected by even head-reeling intoxicants.

“Come on, Pavel! Just go over and ask the man! All he can say is ‘no’!”

“That iz what I am afraid of,” Chekov confessed. He knew that his friend was losing his patience with him, and Chekov didn’t blame Sulu. But the Vulcan could look so intimidating!

“Look, I know you’re afraid of failure," Sulu said. "You don’t want to disappoint me, either. But if this keeps up, you’re going to lose your self-respect! No man should do that!” He squared Chekov’s shoulders so he was looking directing at Spock. “Now, go ask him, or I’ll shove you across the room!”

Chekov’s eyes widened. Spock was looking right at him. “Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye!” he muttered to himself with a deep sigh.

Sulu didn’t shove him across the floor. Instead, he abruptly spun Chekov around and into his arms. The reluctant Chekov suddenly found himself dancing. But with Sulu!

“Hikaru! What are you doing?!”

“Dancing with you! And by all that’s holy, you better be following my lead! Or I will personally kick your ass all around this dance floor so hard that it will be a welcome relief for you to ask a certain someone to dance just so you can get away from my punishing foot!”

Chekov looked troubled as they smoothly navigated the dance steps despite Sulu’s hell-bent determination and Chekov’s reluctance.

“Hikaru, I am zorry,” Chekov finally said.

“For what?! You aren’t stepping on my feet!”

“For making you act this way. Nothing iz worth having you forget your decenzy. I know how proud you are of your mannerz and of your fine deportment. I am humbly zorry for what I have done to you.”

Sulu visibly relaxed. “You’re right. I guess I got a little too focused with trying to help.”

“You are a good friend,” Chekov said earnestly. “And I appreziate how you are trying to help me.”

Sulu smiled. “How about let’s just stop trying so hard and enjoying the evening for a change. We came out on this dance floor to dance, so let’s dance. After all, the universe doesn't hinge on your asking Spock to dance. So let's just forget it for the time being.”

Chekov surrendered something in that moment. He looked sad, but gamely smiled and nodded his head.

That was the moment that Spock chose to turn toward McCoy with a quizzical look on his face.

“Don’t even ask it!” McCoy snarled. “You know damn well what I mean when I say that these dancers are kicking up their heels!”

A pleased smile spread over Spock’s face. He had managed to annoy McCoy.

“What I’m waiting to see is YOU kicking up YOUR heels!" McCoy continued. "Where is this secret admirer who is keeping you waiting?! Does this elusive person actually exist, or is it just a figment of your overheated imagination?!”

“Ask no further,” Kirk announced. “For I am here. Mr. Spock,” he said with a flirty grin as he held out his hand to his First Officer. “Are you prepared to kick up your heels with me? May I have the honor of this dance?”

Spock didn’t know what Kirk was scheming, but he tilted his head in acceptance and graciously took Kirk’s hand. “I would be honored, Captain.”

“You?! You?!” McCoy began to sputter as the couple stepped onto the dance floor.

“A problem, Doctor?” Kirk asked back over his shoulder.

“I’m not the one with the problem!” McCoy muttered, quickly recovering. “I’m not the one trying to dance with that Vulcan!”

“Why, Mr. Spock isn’t a problem at all,” Kirk continued with a placid look on his face. “Just watch. I’m quite certain that we will be quite able to demonstrate that fact to you.”

“Thank you for relieving that situation,” Spock said as they danced away. “But I fear that Dr. McCoy is sputtering now and turning a quite interesting shade of red. He may bear some watching for his health's sake.”

“It will do the good doctor some good to know that he can be bested.”

“But that does not solve the problem of my mystery admirer who has yet to make an appearance.”

“Just wait,” Kirk advised with a languid smile gracing his face once more. “I have a plan.”

Nearby, Chekov rolled his eyes. “Aye, aye, aye!” he moaned with a sigh.

“Now, what?” Sulu wanted to know.

“Ze captin iz dansing with Mr. Zpock! Whatever can thatz mean?”

Sulu grinned. “I don’t know what the captain is doing, but it gives me a plan,” he said as he steered Chekov in a new direction.

Little did Sulu realize that it was the same plan that Kirk had on his mind.

That was why it was little wonder that a few moments later the two couples found that they were dancing beside each other.

“Mr. Sulu! Mr. Chekov!” Kirk hailed with a hearty smile and merry eyes. “Good evening!”

“Good evening!” Sulu hailed back with a broad grin. “Mr. Spock!”

“Gentlemen,” Spock answered stiffly.

Chekov didn’t say anything.

Sulu pinched his lips together and shook Chekov.

“Captin,” Chekov whispered without looking up. He didn’t even acknowledge Spock.

Time for Plan B.

Kirk and Sulu reached out at the same time and tapped each other on the shoulder. “Change partners!” rang out.

All sorts of arms reached out for a new body to hold. Surely there were more than eight arms involved since it certainly looked like more.

It might’ve worked out smoothly if Chekov would’ve looked upon the whole episode as an opportunity instead of another reason to be embarrassed. Because he wasn’t paying attention at all. So when the shuffling stopped and the two new couples were formed, it wasn’t quite what Kirk and Sulu, and ultimately Chekov and Spock, had had in mind.

For now Kirk and Chekov were dancing together. And so were Sulu and Spock.

“Well, hello, there,” Kirk crooned with flirty eyes at Chekov. "Come here often?”

Chekov looked startled, then stunned, then nearly fainted. He was in the Captain’s arms! Ze Captin!

"Fancy seeing you here when all I generally see of you is the back of your head on the Bridge," Kirk continued as if the present arrangement was the greatest thing that had happened to him in awhile. "I'll have to get you to look around more often."

Chekov couldn't reply, but his eyes were saying, Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye!

Meanwhile, the other couple was not faring much better.

“This isn’t quite how this was supposed to work,” Sulu remarked with a worried face. "You aren't supposed to be here with me."

“That is not very flattering for you to say," Spock sniffed haughtily. "The Captain seems quite satisfied with HIS new partner.”

“Oh, Kirk would be thrilled with his own heated blow-up doll to cuddle!” Sulu snapped. “Just as long as it was warm and responsive, he’d sidle up to a Gorn in heat!”

“I have heard other allegations along similar lines about the captain,” Spock remarked dryly. “I believe that the expression is ‘any old port in a storm.’ But right now, Mr. Sulu, I suggest that you pay some attention to your present partner. I am beginning to feel neglected. First, Mr. Chekov cannot work up his courage to ask me for a dance, and now you are not too thrilled by achieving the feat without much effort on your part. 'Not quite how this was supposed to work, indeed!'” Spock scolded as he quoted Sulu.

Sulu glanced at him. “Mr. Spock, on any other given day, I’d be more than happy to give you the proper attention that you deserve. But right now, the objective is to give Pavel his chance with you. We’ll just have to try again.”

Spock sighed to himself. He was beginning to lose interest, but Mr. Sulu seemed quite determined. Perhaps it would be best to go along with whatever happened. Hard telling how Sulu might react, otherwise. Spock knew that Sulu was quite skilled with sword fighting. Spock did not wish to fight a duel tonight. It would certainly fit in with the rest of the crazy evening, though.

Besides, Spock was really curious about Chekov. In fact, he was quite anxious to have the young guy in his arms. That might be a unique experience, indeed. But the logistics of such a thing happening were beginning to dim. Fate did not seem to be with them.

Meanwhile, Leonard McCoy was trying to figure out if his eyes had just deceived him. Had Kirk and Spock switched partners with Sulu and Chekov? If so, those resulting partners were some interesting new combinations, indeed.

“Good evening, Dr. McCoy,” Montgomery Scott greeted as he and Nyota Uhura joined him. 

McCoy turned. “Scotty. Nyota.”

Uhura smiled and placed her hand on McCoy’s arm.

“How goes the dancing this evening?” she wanted to know.

“Confusing,” McCoy answered.

Scotty and Uhura both looked puzzled.

“Whatever do you mean, Doctor?” Scotty asked.

McCoy nodded toward the dance floor. “See those two couples?”

Scotty and Uhura’s eyes followed McCoy’s nod.

"What about them?" Scotty wondered.

"Just watch," McCoy informed them. "They do strange things."

“Isn’t that sweet?” Uhura said when she took a second look at the couples. “The Captain and Chekov. And Mr. Spock and Sulu.” She glanced at McCoy. “I didn’t know that any of them were couples. When did that all happen?”

“Just now. It started out with Sulu and Chekov. Then Jim asked Spock. Then they did this fantastic shuffle. I don’t know exactly what kind of dance steps they were trying to perform, but it involved a lot of intricate hand maneuvers. It looked like an octopus was having a fight with itself. And when the smoke cleared, that’s what I saw. At least they’re all dancing nicely now. Hard telling how long that will last, though.”

“Interesting expressions on their faces,” Scotty noted. “Only the Captain looks happy. The others look determined.”

“Oh, Kirk would be happy with--” McCoy started, then glanced at Uhura. “--anything breathing.”

Uhura raised an eyebrow. “That’s not quite how I heard it.”

“Oh?” McCoy asked innocently. “He’d take on corpses? That’s necrophilia, Lieutenant, and I doubt if even Jim Kirk is that desperate.”

“Let’s hope not,” she agreed with a conspiratorial grin.

“They seem to be dancing quite well together, Doctor,” Scotty noted with skepticism in his voice.

“Give them time. Aha! See?!”

“See what, Doctor?” Scotty asked as he and Uhura leaned forward and narrowed their eyes.

“They are getting closer!” McCoy crowed.

And indeed the two sets of guys were closer again. Then they seemed to pause and shuffle in place while facing each other.

“Now!” the on-lookers read on Kirk’s lips, and he traded places with Spock. The new couples beamed at each other and danced away.

“There! There! Did you see it?!” McCoy demanded.

“They changed partners,” Scotty answered, mystified.

“But it looked like some sort of fancy do-si-do. Just what are they doing out there, anyway?!”

“I do not know, Doctor,” Scotty answered. “But they all look happy now.”

Uhura tucked her hand around McCoy’s arm. “Supposing we go have some punch, Doctor? You look like you could use some.”

McCoy gave her a soft look. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. Those guys are driving me to drink.”

“Aye, they are all grown men, Doctor,” Scotty agreed. “They know what they are doing.”

“And if not, they are about to find out, aren’t they?” McCoy asked with a tired smile. “Heaven help them with what they learn, too!”

Uhura and Scotty were happy to see that McCoy was bouncing back so quickly. 

Sometimes, you just have to let your friends make their own mistakes. In that respect, they were like children. As some wise person once noted, if they can’t listen, they have to feel.

And if the looks on the faces of the two new couples on the dance floor were any indication, they were about to feel a lot.

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing of Star Trek, its characters, and/or its story lines.


End file.
